Sunday 1/05/2011   Sassafras – Bhundoo Hill – Clyde River – Rixons Coal Mine return

                                     Morton National Park, NSW

                                     Yuin country

Participants: Lee Cordner (Leader), Sue Davies (Report), Steve Davies (Photos), Clifford Nowicki and Will Reynolds (South Coast BWC) plus Lani Imhoff and Michael Smith (Shoalhaven BWC)

We commenced this fantastic day trip on a cool crisp morning. Due to the consistent rain in the previous week the drive through several locked gates was challenging as some of the puddles of water were up to the car number plates and there were sections that were very slippery. As Will was the only driver with a two wheel drive, he chose to leave his car and bike the last kilometre to the car park where the rest of us commenced the ride. At this stage, after riding through the mud and pooled rainwater he was regretting his decision to wear a white T shirt that day.

This route was reconstructed from memory using Google Earth Pro and GPS Visualizer.

Download file: 20110501.gpx                         Track Info

The ride into the pinnacles was fantastic although we were all looking a little worse for wear as both us and the bikes were caked in mud by the time we left them for the descent.

Steve was keen for tips from Lee on how to actually get members to go on his walks having run several over the past few months with little interest. Lee gave wise advice that he just needed to be patient.

We reached the impressive pass down to Rixon’s coal mines and were told by the Shoalhaven walkers that it was in fact “Denise’s crack”. We thanked Denise as this is truly a natural wonder, which seems to get longer and higher each time we do this trip.

The falls were very impressive due to the recent rain. We stopped at the head of the falls for lunch with most of the party content to climb around the falls for different vantage points. Only Will and Lee walked downstream to explore the coalmines. No one seemed too keen for a swim despite the sunny day.

Denise’s crack was actually more photogenic on the return trip due to the position of the sun. We arrived back to the cars in time to complete the drive out along the muddy road in daylight. For anyone who has not done this trip it is really should be on your “must do list” for next year.

 

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